Samford Students To Dramatize Length of Alabama Constitution

A group of Samford University students, faculty and staff will make their wishes for a new Alabama constitution known orally and visually on Monday (MAY 9).

Beginning at 6 a.m., volunteers will read aloud, starting from page one of the 1901 constitution. They will read as far as possible into the 310,300-word document, the longest state constitution in the nation, until 6 p.m.

The reading will take place in front of Davis Library. A petition will be available for Alabama residents to sign in support of constitutional reform.

To visually dramatize the document's length, students will hang pages of the constitution on a line along Centennial Walk in front of Davis Library.

The effort is sponsored by the Samford chapter of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, with the cooperation of an assortment of groups, including Samford Student Ministries.

Alisha Damron, a senior from Springdale, Ark., and president of Samford Student Ministries, is lead organizer of the effort.

"It is a cause I feel people here really believe in," said Damron, who began organizing the effort earlier this week. "It will be a way to help people visualize and understand the need for a new Constitution."

"People signed up quickly for the 30-minute time slots," she said. Samford president Thomas E. Corts, a leader in state constitutional reform efforts, will read at 9:30 a.m.